


can't get you (out of my head)

by bloomsoftly



Series: thank you ficlets [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Mutual Pining, Wanda and Pietro are wittle kids, because that's my specialty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 16:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12172698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloomsoftly/pseuds/bloomsoftly
Summary: Wanda and Pietro are the best younger siblings she ever could've asked for, but taking care of them 24/7 means that Darcy's social life is practically non-existent.A chance run-in with a couple of boys her age could change all that.





	can't get you (out of my head)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phoenix_173](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_173/gifts).



The twins met her at the front door, which wasn’t particularly unusual. When she peered closer at their little faces, however, she could see that Wanda’s eyes were still red from her tears, and her cheeks were all ruddy. She clung to Darcy’s legs, not even waiting for her to drop her backpack by the door. Pietro was hugging himself, eyes on the floor.   
  
“Hi, guys,” she greeted, reaching out to Pietro with a cautious hand. Most of the time he loved to cuddle with her, but on bad days he tended to need a little extra space. When he folded himself along her hip without hesitation, she breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Is everything okay?”  
  
Pietro nodded against her hip, but didn’t speak. For once, it was Wanda who took the lead. She pressed herself along Darcy’s other side and mumbled into her hip, “Can we go to the park, Darce?”  
  
Above their heads, face tilted to the ceiling so they couldn’t see her, Darcy closed her eyes in worry. She hummed noncommittally. “Where’s Miss Ella?” Their foster mom should know what was going on, at the very least. At her question, both grips tightened against her clothes, and she had to gently pry them loose. That was one question answered. They stayed behind as she walked down the entryway, two tiny, forlorn figures in the cold light of a fall afternoon.  
  
Ellen was bracing her cell phone between her shoulder and her cheek when Darcy walked into the kitchen. She turned slightly at the sound of shoes scuffing against the tile, smiling absently in Darcy’s general direction. “Hold on a second, Marsha.”   
  
Cupping her hand over the receiver, she said, “Hey, Darce. Can you take the twins to the park or something? They’ve been driving me crazy ever since they got home.” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning back around. “Sorry, girl. No, not the little ones. That was the teenager. No, I know, the joys of parenting—”  
  
On that note, Darcy decided it was best if she went ahead and left. Sighing a little, she turned back the way she’d come. “Sure. I’ll take the kids to the park.” She didn’t wait for the older woman to respond; it would be a waste of effort, anyway.  
  
Luckily, the kids lost some of their anxiety as they walked down the quiet streets. Wanda even skipped a little as she tried to keep up with Darcy’s stride. Her brother was still a little clingier than usual, although there was a faint smile on his face by the time they actually got to the park.   
  
As was their routine, they headed straight for the swings. She’d come here often enough with them that they’d all worked out a system. They might only be seven years old, but the twins had a very keen eye for equality and proportions, and wouldn’t hesitate to let Darcy know if she was pushing one of them a little too often.   
  
Pietro got bored faster than his sister, and pretty soon he was zipping around the perimeter of the playground, arms stretched wide and making zooming airplane noises. Darcy watched him from the corner of one eye as she pushed Wanda on the swing. Checking to make sure the little girl was still entertained, she tried to broach the sore subject from earlier. “Wanda…do you wanna tell me what happened earlier that upset Piet and made you cry?”  
  
A faint sniffle drifted up from the little girl’s general direction, but she didn’t look up at Darcy. “Not really.”  
  
Which meant that there was no way she was going to tell her anything. If Pietro was the daring, reckless twin, Wanda made up for it with her stubbornness.

“Alright.” She huffed a resigned laugh and decided to try again—with the other twin—later.   
  
Speaking of which, Pietro zoomed past them, deeper into the park. “What’s that?” he yelled, taking off at a sprint. Muffling a curse, Darcy plucked Wanda from the swing and they took off after him. The little girl giggled as they ran, laughter echoing through the empty air.   
  
“Piet, what are you doing? You’re not supposed to run off like that! Oh—” She came to a screeching halt, realizing exactly what her little brother had gotten himself into. He was staring up at the bemused, sweaty form of Bucky Barnes, the running back on her school’s football team. He was breathing hard, propped up against a tire— the kind that professional football players used in the movies. She stared like an idiot, completely dumbstruck. Bucky stared back, equally silent.   
  
A soft clearing of the throat had Darcy turning around. “Hey, Darcy.”  
  
“Steve!” She spun with a relieved smile, glad that her tongue had finally come unglued from the roof of her mouth. “How are you?”  
  
“I’m good,” he replied with a gently mocking grin. “Those are odd clothes to be wearing for a run through the park.”   
  
Looking down at her skinny jeans and chunky sweater, Darcy huffed. At the reminder, she turned to her little brother. “Piet, you know you can’t go running off like that.” The boy scuffed his shoe against the grass and scowled.   
  
Sensing an oncoming tantrum, Wanda abandoned ship and headed straight for Steve, climbing up onto the bench next to him to peer over his shoulder. Bemused, he tilted his notebook so that she could see whatever he’d been drawing before they’d rudely interrupted. The sweet, considerate action earned him a grin and a pat on the cheek from Wanda, and Darcy had to stifle a smile.   
  
She turned back to Pietro and Bucky, only to find them in a strange kind of standoff. Bucky looked amused, thankfully, while Pietro stared up at him with a strange mix of defiance and awe. As Darcy stepped closer, Bucky’s eyes darted to her.   
  
“I’m sorry we interrupted your workout, Bucky,” she said, ignoring the way his eyes widened at her use of his name. Had he thought that she didn’t know who he was? Because if so, that was ridiculous. 

_(read more link here)_

“No, that’s okay,” he replied with a grin. It was a little dorky, and she was embarrassed that her heart raced at the sight of it. After a year and a half, she was supposed to be over this stupid crush—she’d never even talked to him before. He glanced away before she could figure out what to say next, back toward Pietro. With a friendly smile, he leaned down so that he was closer to the little boy’s level. “Hi, there. I’m Bucky.”  
  
Pietro’s frown was mulish, and again Darcy wondered what had happened at school. He wasn’t usually this hostile, not even to strangers. Huffing, he rolled his eyes. “I know. Darcy said your name like five seconds ago. Are you deaf or something?”  
  
“Pietro!” Darcy stared at him, aghast. He flinched away from her angry stare, but Bucky drew the boy’s attention back to him with a mild laugh.  
  
“Yeah, I guess she did, didn’t she? I was just trying to be polite. Your name is Pietro?”  
  
Ducking his chin, the little boy nodded cautiously. The older boy squatted down to bring himself to Pietro’s level. Worried that another rude comment was about to be made, Darcy hovered close by. She tried not to get distracted by the way the dry, cool sweat was causing goosebumps to break out over Bucky’s naked torso, but it was tough.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Pietro.” He stuck out a hand between them, waiting patiently as the younger boy eyed him up and down. Eventually, Pietro stuck his hand out to shake.

“Maybe we should let Bucky get back to his—” she trailed off, not sure what to call it, but the boy in question shot her a quick grin and shook his head immediately.  
  
“No, it’s okay. I needed a break anyway.” His attention immediately drifted back to Pietro, leaving her to awkwardly stand there. Deciding that she didn’t need to referee their bonding time, Darcy turned to head toward Wanda and Steve.   
  
The little girl was watching him as he sketched, tongue stuck out in concentration as if she was the one with the pencil pressed to the page. Other than a glance in her direction every now and then, Steve ignored the intrusion. A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, though, so at least she wasn’t being a total nuisance. As Darcy plopped down on the bench, Wanda abandoned her observation post and came around to sit next to her. Steve’s eyes darted up from his drawing, but the little girl was completely focused on Bucky and her brother. Trust gained, Pietro had moved on to quizzing Bucky about his exercises, while the teenager bore his curiosity with grace.

“He got his name right,” Wanda said, glancing up at Darcy to make sure she’d heard.

She had, although she had no idea why that was important.

“What?”  
  
With a tiny huff, Wanda slid across the bench until she was halfway in the older girl’s lap. Rolling her eyes, Darcy heaved her up until Wanda was fully settled across her legs; even after several years with her; the twins had trouble asking for what they wanted outright. Leaning against her older sister, content to settle in one place for the moment, Wanda repeated her simple statement.

“He got Pietro’s name right.” There was a weight of importance to her words that Darcy didn’t understand—until all of a sudden the lightbulb went off and she understood what Wanda was trying to tell her.   
  
Squeezing the young girl gently, she murmured, “Have the other kids been giving Piet a hard time?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve’s head shoot up from his drawing, but she ignored it. At Wanda’s nod, she sighed.

“I’ll talk to him, sestrica.” Her horrible accent made Wanda giggle, as she’d intended. “But the kids who make fun of your names or your accents are just mean, scared bullies. Okay? There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s them who are the problem.”  
  
Wanda shifted, hiding her face against Darcy’s neck. Across the field, Bucky looked over at them in concern. Darcy met his eyes over Wanda’s back and smiled. After a moment of hesitation, gaze darting between her expression and the defensive posture of the girl, Bucky tentatively smiled back. Pietro followed his gaze and immediately stopped working on the exercises Bucky had been teaching him.

“But it’s not fair, Darce.” Her voice hit a high wine, and Pietro’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard it.  
  
Darcy’s heart clenched, and she could only whisper a soft, “I know.”  
  
Not for the first time, Darcy wished that Ellen was more interested in being an actual mom to the kids. Instead, soothing the distraught child would fall to her. She was supposed to be a child herself, she thought with a healthy dose of self-pity. Not that she’d had the opportunity to be one for many years. They said their goodbyes quickly; both Pietro and Darcy could feel a full-on Wanda meltdown coming, and it was always best to be home for that.  
  
Steve, having overheard the quiet conversation between the two girls, let them leave with nothing more than a commiserating smile and a soft wave—which Darcy was pleased to note that Wanda returned.   
  
But as they turned to go, Bucky deliberately stepped into their path. Not threatening, but enough to draw her attention. “Everything good, Darce?”  
  
Stubbornly suppressing a shudder at the way the nickname rolled off his tongue, she nodded and hummed. “Mhmm. It’s just time to get these little munchkins home before they get too tired.”  
  
“I’m not a munchkin,” Pietro grumbled as he took her hand. Wanda didn’t say anything at all, which only served to prove Darcy’s point. Darcy ruffled her brother’s hair but didn’t say anything. Bucky shifted uneasily in front of her, and she curiously glanced back up to catch his eye.   
  
“We were—are, uh—are gonna do something later. Maybe grab dinner or something? If you want to come.” It took her a second to realize he was inviting her to hang out with them some more, and the question made Darcy’s heart soar. When she didn’t respond right away, Bucky added, “Stevie’s gonna be there, too, of course. It’d be the three of us. If you want.”  
  
She opened her mouth to say yes— _don’t shout, Darce, act cool, oh my god this is the best thing that has ever happened to you_ —and then Pietro shifted against her hip. Realization swept over her, and she had to close her eyes for a second to hide the tears of frustration that were gathering at the corners of her eyelids.

“I’d love to—but,” she sputtered, coughed, then tried again, staring at the ground. “I wish I could. But I can’t. I’m sorry.” With her eyes lowered, she didn’t see Bucky’s reaction to her words.  
  
His face was frozen when she dared to look up; the silence had stretched too long. “Right. Right, of course,” he finally said. She wanted to explain, to spill everything about Ellen and Wanda and Pietro, but she couldn’t. She refused to hurt the twins’ feelings or make them feel like a burden, not even to save her social life.  
  
“See you later,” she murmured, stepping around him. He didn’t say anything at all.   
  
The trip home was quiet, the silence heavy. Instead of going out to dinner with Steve and the boy she’d been crushing on for almost two years, she made dinner for Pietro and Wanda and made sure to sit down with them afterward. In a soft tone, she talked to them about the bullies at school; as gently as she could, she repeated what she’d said to Wanda to her brother (and resolved to put a thought or two into Ellen’s head—something that would get the woman over to their school to do something about it). They cuddled for hours afterward, until the twins dropped off to sleep curled around her. As she stared down at their peaceful faces, Darcy couldn’t bring herself to regret her choice.  
  
Still, she couldn’t hold back a lonely tear or two as she drifted off to sleep in her own bed, several doors down from the kids who relied on her so much.

 

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, after their fun afternoon with Steve and Bucky, the twins pestered her to take them to the park almost every day. Every time she caved, the teenage boys were there: Bucky working up a sweat with his conditioning workouts ( _that_ , Pietro had informed her haughtily after several more visits to the park, was the proper term for it) and Steve sketching away at his bench.   
  
Honestly, Darcy didn’t even time their playtime at the park to match the boys’; well, at least not after their first return visit. She might’ve lingered a little too long on her hair and her clothes as she faced the prospect of seeing Bucky again. When they got there, though, he barely spared her a second glance. Oh, he did the polite hello and the wave, even offering up a tight-lipped grin, but he turned away to Pietro immediately. She was left to trek over to slouch next to Steve, who was staring at his friend with something akin to exasperation.   
  
Steve was sweet, though. He put up with her novice questions about drawing and showed her some of his work. Over time, she lost herself in the conversation, no longer quite so focused on ignoring the fact that Bucky was ignoring her. She was so immersed in it, in fact, that she jumped in surprise when Bucky plunked his workout gear on the table with a loud thump.  
  
“It’s time to go, Stevie.”  
  
From her position at his shoulder, Darcy could see the tips of Steve’s ears burn red with anger. Deciding it would be smart to head home before she and the twins got caught in the middle of an argument between the friends, she stood up and checked the time on her phone.   
  
“Oh wow, you’re right. Wanda, Piet, it’s time for us to go home. Thanks for putting up with me, Steve.” Ignoring the tension between the friends, she smiled and clapped him on the shoulder as she passed.   
  
“It’s no problem, Darce. I like hanging out with you.”  
  
As she passed, Darcy offered a slight head nod to Bucky, her feelings still hurt from his brush off. “See you around, Bucky.”  
  
“See ya,” was his gruff response. Then, before she was even out of earshot, “Really, Stevie? ‘ _Darce_ ’?”

Humiliation and anger mingled in her chest at his tone, and she resolved to get over the last holdout of her crush as quickly as possible. It wasn’t supposed to hurt like this.

 

* * *

 

  
The next four or five times they ran into the boys weren’t much better. Bucky ignored her very existence while Steve went out of his way to make her feel welcome. The combination was more than enough to give a girl whiplash, and more than once she wished she could’ve fallen for Steve instead of his best friend. The last straw, though, was when Bucky started talking about another girl at their school.  
  
“Peggy? Now that’s a girl worth talking to. Hot as hell, and one of the smartest women I know. If you’re not gonna ask her out, Stevie, I might. Just imagine—”  
  
“On that note, we’re going to go.” Maybe she should apologize for cutting him off, but Darcy’d had quite enough. She stood up abruptly, packing the twins’ snacks back into her backpack. They stared at her in confusion, then slowly followed suit. Bucky fell silent for half a second, staring at her with a strange mix of anger and satisfaction.  
  
“What, Lewis? Don’t have the balls to hear nice things about another girl? That’s not very feminist of you, is it?”  
  
She whirled on him, leaning into his space with a seething anger so potent he jerked backward. Another time she might’ve laughed or crowed with triumph (she wasn’t some timid little girl, she knew how to spit fire). Instead, she met his eyes squarely and let him see her disgust. He swallowed heavily in the face of it.  
  
“The twins are seven. Seven. And forgive me for assuming that you were about to start talking about Peggy Carter’s  _assets_ and what you might do to them, if you got the chance. Which, by the way, would never happen. She’d never give an asshole like you the time of day—not with the way you talk about girls. So, yeah. I’m leaving. I don’t want to risk the chance that Pietro will turn out like you.” Her voice was low and icy, soft enough that she knew the twins wouldn’t overhear.   
  
A myriad of emotions flitted across Bucky’s face—shame was a predominant one, she noted with satisfaction—but Darcy didn’t stick around to hear what he’d say next.  
  
With a final parting glance at Steve, who was staring between them with horrified fascination, she took the kids’ hands and walked away.   
  
“Let me know if you want to hang out sometime, Steve.” The implication was clear—they wouldn’t be coming back.

 

* * *

 

Once her initial anger had faded, Darcy’s biggest worry was having to explain to the twins that they wouldn’t be going back to the park for a while. Help came from an unexpected corner, however; Ellen fell into one of her great-mom phases, where she was one hundred percent dedicated to meeting all of the kids’ needs. Even Darcy’s, which the teenager generally tried to avoid at all costs. In this case, though, it was a good distraction for Wanda and Pietro. By the time they even thought to ask about the park again, a month had gone by.  
  
Their renewed interest in Steve and Bucky was brought about by the Queen of Meddling herself, Natasha. Nat was a little older than Darcy—another foster kid who’d been in the system, though she’d since turned eighteen and transitioned to adulthood as flawlessly as she did everything else—but they’d been best friends as long as Darcy could remember. Wanda and Pietro loved her, and she had a knack for showing up exactly when Darcy needed her the most.  
  
When she rang the doorbell on a blustery day in October, mischievous smirk firmly in place and Clint shaking his head frantically over her shoulder, Darcy wanted to slam the door in her face. It was too late; the twins had already spotted their beloved Auntie Nat.  
  
In less than ten minutes, she was leading a mutiny.  
  
“Steve says you’re avoiding him.”  
  
“What? No, of course I’m not.”

The twins glanced back and forth between them, like they were watching a tennis match.   
  
“Oh, really? According to him, you talked about hanging out with him but now avoid him everytime he tries to say hello.”  
  
“I do not!” Nat’s expression was flat and disbelieving, and she slowly quirked an eyebrow. “I don't…always?”  
  
Catching on to the game, Wanda blinked innocently. “Are we going to the park today to see Steve?”  
  
On cue, Pietro perked up. “And Bucky, too?” Clint shot Darcy a commiserating look but shrugged, pulling his best ‘I tried to warn you’ face.   
  
Half an hour later, they were at the park. She’d dragged her feet as best she could, but there was no stopping Nat—especially when she had Wanda and Piet on her side. Darcy’s last hope was that in the month or so that she hadn’t been to the park, Steve and Bucky’s routine had changed and they magically wouldn’t be there.   
  
Things always seemed to work out in Natasha’s favor, though, and Darcy had learned long ago never to bet against her. Sure enough, the boys were at the park. They turned in the direction of the noisy group as soon as they rounded the curve of the path.   
  
Steve’s face split into an immediate welcome, and he dropped his charcoal to the paper and stood to say hello. Bucky, oddly, looked a little shy. He met Darcy’s gaze for the briefest of moments before glancing away. She ignored it; having spent the last month forcing herself to get over her crush, Darcy wasn’t interested in analyzing Bucky’s every move. Instead, she moved toward Steve.   
  
“Hey, Steve. I’m sorry for, uh, everything.” She waved her hand in a vague motion through the air, hoping he’d understand what she meant. “Things have been a little…busy…lately.”  
  
“Uh-uh. Really busy.” His flat look could rival Natasha’s. Seriously, they were both that talented. “It had absolutely nothing to do with my best friend being a royal jackass the last time you guys came out to the park.”  
  
She floundered for something to say—anything, really, that wasn’t an outright lie or a confirmation of how badly Bucky had hurt her feelings. Help came from an unexpected quarter: Darcy was saved from having to answer by Wanda, who was clearly anxious to go through all of Steve’s drawings.   
  
“Stevie, what new drawings do you have? I want to see everything.” With the loss of a couple teeth, Wanda had recently developed a slight lisp. It was adorable, and Steve absolutely melted when he heard it.  
  
Sensing an opportunity to sneak away, Darcy made her way over to Clint. Nat’s boyfriend was a bit dorky, but an easy guy to be around. She especially liked that he didn’t feel the need to fill the silence; they sat together on the bench without a word, watching the others. Pietro had joined his sister in examining Steve’s art (they were oohing and ahhing over the drawings, and Darcy even thought she heard a critique or two thrown in there), abandoning Bucky to an intense conversation with Natasha.  
  
They sat quietly for a long time, a silent oasis between the cheerful noises of Steve entertaining the twins and Bucky and Nat’s quiet bickering. Darcy and Clint were sat on the opposite side of the bench, so she couldn’t hear what Nat was saying to Bucky. Neither of them looked happy, although they were standing awfully close. Shooting a curious glance at Clint to see if he was bothered by his girlfriend’s proximity to the other guy, Darcy discovered that he was already looking at her with wry amusement.  
  
“Careful there, Darce. Your jealous face is showing,” he said, voice low enough that no one would overhear. He knocked his shoulder into hers gently. “I’d almost think you like Barnes, after all.”  
  
She sputtered and stuck her nose in the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
  
“Mhmm.” He rolled his eyes, laughing outright as her eyes drifted back to the other pair. It was ridiculous—and jealous, he was right—but she couldn’t seem to help it.  
  
This time, it wasn’t just Clint who saw her. Bucky was already looking in her direction, and his eyes widened as Darcy’s gaze met his. He took a faltering step in her direction, and she immediately looked away. When she snuck another look, she caught sight of Natasha’s expression.

Her friend looked irritated at Bucky’s lack of attention, until she followed his gaze to Darcy. Behind his back, her face adopted a smug look. Clint saw it, too.

“You’re in for it, now,” he murmured. He opened his mouth to say more, but fell silent as a shadow crept over them.  
  
“Heya, Darce.” Bucky plopped down in the seat next to her with an easy confidence that was belied by his uneasy expression.  
  
“Bucky.” She turned back to Clint after offering her terse greeting, but he was already moving away.  
  
“Sorry, Darce. Nat wants to talk to me about something. Hey, Barnes. Don’t be a dick.” And with that warning, he sauntered off in the general direction of his girlfriend.  _Thanks, Clint_. Darcy snuck a glance at Bucky and was surprised to find that a dull flush was creeping across his cheekbones.  
  
“So, uhh—hey.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, no longer the cool, arrogant boy he’d been the last time she saw him. It was a nice change, quite frankly.  
  
“Hey.” Her wariness was clear, she knew, because his face fell as she uttered the single word.  
  
“Listen, I’m—I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Darcy. You were right and I was rude last time you were here. And, uhh—I had no right to take my bad mood out on you that day.” He fell silent, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he waited for her to respond.  
  
“Yeah, you were a dick.” He sucked in a breath, but she wasn’t done. “But we all have those days. We’re cool, Bucky.”  
  
“Yeah?” His smile could serve as a backup type of solar power, she thought. Which was a dumb thing to think, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She lost all chill when he looked at her like that.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“So, uhh—” Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sudden arrival of Natasha, who plopped down in Clint’s recently-vacated spot.  
  
“Darcy.” Bucky rolled his eyes as Nat claimed her attention, but didn’t say anything against it.  
  
“Yes, Nat?”  
  
“Clint and I are gonna grab dinner later. You in?”  
  
“I can’t,” she replied slowly, narrowing her eyes at her friend. Nat knew exactly what Darcy was doing after the park, because she had been responsible for taking care of the twins almost as long as they’d been living with Ellen. Even when their foster mom was in her super-mom moods, Darcy was responsible for making sure Pietro and Wanda had dinner almost every night. Natasha even helped out every now and then, which was why she was suspicious. So, unless her friend had suddenly developed amnesia…  
  
Nat stared at her, assessing, then rolled her eyes in realization. “Ellen still won’t spring for an actual babysitter, huh?” It was an act, that much was clear. But why was Natasha acting?  
  
With her back to him, Darcy didn’t see Bucky stiffen and close his eyes in pained realization. She did spot Wanda and Pietro, though, as they tuned in to Nat’s question. She hadn’t bothered to lower her voice, too caught up in whatever point she’d been trying to make.   
  
“I happen to  _like_ making dinner for Wanda and Piet, Natasha.” Nat’s gaze shot back to her—she’d been staring over Darcy’s shoulder—at the use of her full name. She blinked in the face of Darcy’s palpable anger; it clearly wasn’t part of whatever plan she’d concocted. The twins’ feelings were more important than figuring Nat out, though, so Darcy stood up from the bench without another word to her.  
  
“Speaking of which, it’s probably time for us to head back, kiddos. Dinner won’t cook itself.”   
  
The twins were quiet in their goodbyes, and Nat finally understood what she’d inadvertently done. As a former foster kid, she knew how sensitive the children could be. She murmured a quiet, but sincere, apology in Darcy’s ear and gripped her shoulder lightly. Darcy squeezed back: it was a mistake, but an honest one. Luckily, it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed with a home-cooked dinner and some cuddles before bedtime.   
  
She said goodbye to Bucky and Steve, too, though she hardly noticed. Her full attention was on her munchkins and their needs.

 

* * *

 

After that trip to the park, Darcy’s routine shifted again. The tentative truce with Bucky bloomed into a true friendship, until they spent most of the time at the park talking and laughing with each other. When Piet wasn’t convincing Bucky to help him with his ‘conditioning,’ of course. Steve watched the pair of them with amusement but never accused her of stealing his best friend, so Darcy figured he was alright with the new development.  
  
If anything, he seemed to encourage it. Darcy found herself with new lunch companions at school—the three of them piled into Bucky’s car to snag some food during their lunch breaks. From there, it seemed natural for Bucky to offer to drive her home from school. It wasn’t very fun to ride the bus as a senior, so she agreed immediately.  
  
And although the trips to the park continued without a hitch—Steve, Bucky, Darcy, the twins, and sometimes Nat and Clint—Steve started riding home with a friend more and more often. She pulled him aside one day, wanting to make sure she wasn’t intruding, but he’d only waved her off. Apparently, Sam and Bucky were frenemies and Sam got a little jealous if he didn’t get to spend enough time with Steve. Which was a little strange for a platonic friendship, she thought, but didn’t say anything.  
  
And then one day Darcy overheard people gossiping about her relationship with Bucky. They weren’t even being mean—the girls were talking about what a cute couple they made, and had no idea Darcy was in one of the bathroom stalls—but it completely threw her for a loop. She hadn’t realized—hadn’t even allowed herself to hope.   
  
She was still thinking about it as she walked out of her classroom to find that Bucky had been waiting for her to get out of Physics. It had become routine, now, for him to fall into step beside her and her lab partner. Normally she only half-noticed his presence as she and Jane dissected the major points of Mr. Selvig’s lesson. Today, though, all she could think about was the rumors, about the way they looked to everyone else in school. Jane squeezed her arm and offered a commiserating grin, then drifted off down the hallway to meet her boyfriend. She and Thor were sickeningly cute, and he drove her home from school every day.  
  
“Hey, Bucky,” she said belatedly, tucking a curl behind her ear.  
  
“Hey, Darce. How was physics?”   
  
With a quiet chuckle, she told him about her teacher’s latest absentminded silliness—Mr. Selvig was a genius but very loopy, and a great favorite amongst the students—and asked about his day. They chattered about little things, nothing important, as they made their way to the parking lot. Darcy felt as though every eye was on them, even though they weren’t doing anything different from any other day, and chastised herself for being skittish.  
  
The drive home was easier. When it was just the two of them, she felt more comfortable basking in his easy affection and good humor. As they pulled up to her house, though, the air got awkward and heavy.   
  
“Wait.” She paused in the act of unbuckling her seatbelt, staring down at his hand on her arm, before looking up at him curiously.  
  
He pulled it back immediately, reaching up to rake a hand through his hair nervously. Running his tongue over his bottom lip— _do not get distracted, Darcy, now is not the time_ —he opened and shut his mouth a couple of times, working his jaw in frustration.  
  
“Bucky? Are you okay?”  
  
He nodded, then coughed. Then licked his lips again.  
  
“Yeah.” Wincing a little as his voice cracked, he shook his head and tried again. “Yeah. Umm. Umm—what are you doing for dinner?”  
  
“Making it for the twins, as always. Did you want to come in?” Bucky and Steve had done that a couple of times, joined them for dinner, though Ellen’s over-the-top flirting had made them unbearably uncomfortable.  
  
“No, uh, that’s okay. Thanks. What about Saturday?”  
  
“You mean, what am I doing for dinner on Saturday?”  
  
He nodded, but didn’t speak. She was starting to get a little concerned at the look on his face. Her heart thumped erratically in her chest, but she was afraid to hope.  
  
“Well, I guess the same thing. The twins have to eat, and I can’t count on Ellen to feed them.”  
  
“You could count on Steve,” he blurted.  
  
“Yeah, I could. But I don’t have plans, so…”  
  
“But if you did have plans. You could count on Steve.”  
  
“I could,” she agreed, examining his face.  
  
“I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?” He sighed, scrubbing a slightly-shaking hand over his face.  
  
“A little.” Darcy took his hand, prying it away from his face so that she could see his expression clearly. He twisted it mid-motion, so that his palm slid against hers and their fingers tangled together. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could barely hear his next words over the blood rushing to her head. Hope beat its battered wings against her lungs.  
  
“Darcy. Would you like to go out with me on Saturday? I’ve been wanting to ask you for months. Since before my stupid punk ass comments in the park.”  
  
Before she could even respond, he blurted, “I’ve had a crush on your for years, and I just—I just—yeah.”  
  
It felt better than she could’ve imagined. A grin split across her face, and it found its mirror in his. They smiled at each other like complete idiots, holding hands across the console, before she remembered that he was still waiting on an answer. Hunting for courage, she leaned across to place a lingering kiss against his cheek. His eyes tracked her movements, and he froze at the contact. She didn’t even think he was breathing, and she nudged his ribs lightly as a reminder.  
  
“I would love that, Bucky. See you tomorrow.” He finally sucked in a breath as she unbuckled and slid out of the car.  
  
The window squeaked as it rolled down. She grinned and turned back. A guarded happiness  shone in his expression, as if he was afraid to hope. What a pair they were.  
  
“You mean it, Darce?”  
  
“Yeah, dude. I’ve had a crush on you, too. A couple of years, in fact. So let’s not screw it up, okay?” Blowing him a kiss, she turned back around. She couldn’t help but add an extra sway to her hips as she walked, not that she thought he’d mind.  
  
“We won’t!” It was the last thing he said before the door to her house open and the twins spilled out to greet her.  
  
Pietro and Wanda had been watching for her arrival, and they tumbled out the door with excitement, all bundled up and wanting to go to the park to see their Steve and Bucky. Well, their Steve.   
  
_Her_ Bucky.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments make the world go 'round. <3
> 
> on tumblr: bloomsoftly


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